In Shikaripura, discussions on Yeddyurappa's 'fading glory'

Agencies
May 1, 2018

Shivamogga, May 1: As the Karnataka poll battle hots up, people of the state are busy talking about their favourite party candidates even as many raised doubts over the apparent "sidelining" of BJP's chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa this election.

Standing in the sweltering summer heat, 45-year-old Shantappa is waiting for a bus to Shikaripura. The unrelenting weather, however, could not stop him from discussing the upcoming state assembly elections with fellow passengers.

Wiping sweat from his forehead, he says, "It looks like our leader (Yeddyurappa) has been sidelined. He is not in his original form in this elections...I have heard he is not sharing the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in most rallies".

Fellow passenger Rudrappa, a farmer, quips that the central BJP leaders are unable to connect with the public due to the language barrier.

"The other day, one of my relatives in northern Karnataka attended a rally, but came back disappointed as he could not understand the speech in Hindi," he says.

Another passenger Keshava, a BJP supporter, interjects and says the same goes with the Congress.

He argues that Kannadigas cannot connect with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and other party central leaders.

The bus driver, who do not wish to be identified, says political rallies are simply "political gimmicks".

"People are asked to shout slogans of 'Modi Modi' and 'Rahul Rahul'. These are political gimmicks," he says.

The driver was quick to add, "Yeddyurappa, a political heavyweight that he is, knows how to win elections if given full freedom.Yeddyurappa is a mass leader. BJP chief Amit Shah has said that the party is important and not the person. That does not work in Karnataka though".

A lawyer observes that the BJP's chief ministerial candidate was not giving any befitting reply to the ruling government's charges against him.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is repeating his speech at every place, mentioning about Yeddyurappa's jail stint and the Saubhagya welfare schemes, but the BJP's CM candidate is not giving a befitting reply to him, he says.

"Probably his health is not permitting him to campaign the way he used to do earlier. Otherwise, there is no reason for him to be silent," he adds.

When asked about the "fading glory" of 75-year-old Yeddyurappa, Gurumurthy, caretaker of Shikaripura constituency, says, "He has not been sidelined at all. These are fake reports. He is in his 'full form', else he would not have undertaken the padayatra for 85 days, covering all 224 constituencies just before the election campaign.

"We got 20 days to campaign after the filing of nominations. Since he is the state party president, he had to be a part of the candidate selection process. Therefore, he could not campaign during the first one week," Gurumurthy, who is also the district BJP general secretary, says.

"Now that the election campaign has started, Yeddyurappa is touring four constituencies on a daily basis," he says.

"Also, the central party chief has told mass leaders to campaign separately in the state as less time is left to cover the major constituencies," he says.

The BJP leader also addressed the reports of Yeddyurappa not sharing stage with the prime minister or party chief Amit Shah.

"Yeddyurappa sharing stage with PM or Amit Shah is not important, winning the election is important for us," Gurumurthy says.

Yeddyurappa has not visited his constituency in last five years, still, the party workers are working hard to ensure that the Lingayat leader wins with 50,000 votes margin in the upcoming state polls, he adds.

Gurumurthy, an RSS worker from Sagar taluk, has been working as coordinator in Shikaripura for last 35 years.

Karnataka will go to polls on May 12 to elect the 224- member assembly. The results for the same will be declared on May 15.

Comments

Angle of Life
 - 
Wednesday, 2 May 2018

Downfall of BJP is very near...if you make corruption for 100 year people may forgive you but if you make division in religion and divide the country people then they will never show any mercy on you..because TRUE INDIAN ARE LOVING PEOPLE THEY DONT SEE WHICH RELIGION YOU ARE. Do good to all community people autamatically all people will start loving you...so ask vote in the name of development, safety, employment, hearth care, futur...not in the name of god, hindutva, muslim, crist, cow, caste etc i want to see my india growing strong.. i dont want to put my head down becaus of greedy communual leader

Shahir
 - 
Tuesday, 1 May 2018

Yeddy the, toothless (brainless also) Lion

Sandeep
 - 
Tuesday, 1 May 2018

Whatever he was, his age and wrong decisions were the reason for the glory fade

Danish
 - 
Tuesday, 1 May 2018

Yeddurappa = Jumla raja Jr.

Farooq
 - 
Tuesday, 1 May 2018

By stating they are for Hindus and protecting everything for Hinduism, they failed to meet their words in real. People started realising the bane of BJP rule.

Kumar
 - 
Tuesday, 1 May 2018

It's widely known truth, some BJP leaders have a prick of conscience.  They may support and justify BJP acts in public but in mind, they are not. Modi rule made Yeddy weaker

Divakar
 - 
Tuesday, 1 May 2018

Yeddy's strong era became past. He cant do much influence on Kannadigas. 

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 4,2020

Shivamogga, Feb 4: Students of a government primary school which is built especially for the children of manual scavengers, have been facing tough times during classes as the filthy drainage passing through the school premises excrete human excreta and sludge.

The drainage passes through GSPL Scavenger's Colony School in Shivamogga city, located behind the state road transport corporation's bus stand (KSRTC).

According to the locals here, students studying in this school often fall sick due to the waste flowing from the drainage.

Penchelayya, the father of a child who studies in the same school said, "Human excreta floats in the drainage as it is connected to two toilets. The school stinks and students often fall sick due to the drainage."

The students studying here are unable to bear the foul smell emanating from the drainage which flows at the school's premises.

He added that waste from private bus stands is dumped in this drainage which ultimately flows here creating an extremely unhygienic environment for the people living here and students studying in this school.

He further claimed that the government is not ready to listen to their grievances.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
coastaldigest.com news network
May 13,2020

Mangaluru, May 13: Coastal district of Dakshina Kannada today reported a fresh covid-19 positive case. According to sources, this case also linked to Manglauru’s First Neuro Hospital, which has emerged as the corona hub of coastal Karnataka.

Health and Family Welfare department in its today’s bulletin revealed that a 38-year-old woman from Darandabagilu near Someshwara in Mangaluru taluk of Dakshina Kannada was tested coronavirus positive.

It is said that the woman was in touch with P-507, an octogenarian, who was being treated for neurological issues at First Neuro Hospital.

With this the total number of coronavirus positive cases reported in Dakshina Kannada rose to 34. Among them only 26 are residents of Dakshina Kannada. Four are from Kasaragod, three from Udupi and one from Bhatkal.

Among 34, currently there only 17 active cases. The condition of two among them is said to be critical.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 25,2020

Chennai, Jul 25: Two weeks after a 62-year-old widow accused him of harassment, including urinating outside her house, the Chennai Police on Saturday registered an FIR against ABVP national president Dr Subbiah Shanmugam.

Dr Shanmugam, Professor and HOD, Department of Surgical Oncology, Kilpauk Medical College and Government Royapettah Hospital, has been booked under sections 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) and 427 (mischief causing damage) under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Tamil Nadu Women Harassment Prevention Act.

The FIR was lodged exactly two weeks after the woman’s relative Balaji Vijayaraghavan filed a complaint with the Adambakkam police accusing Dr Shanmugam of harassing his aunt, who is living alone in her apartment following her husband’s death last year, following an argument over a parking slot. 

The action came after Vijayaraghavan alleged that the police were not filing an FIR due to the ABVP functionary’s “political connections.”

Dr Shanmugam and the woman were living in the same apartment complex in Nanganallur and an argument broke between them over a parking slot.

“He wanted to use our parking lot. We agreed but demanded a nominal charge for using it. He was outraged by our demand and even broke our signboard at the parking lot,” Vijayaraghavan wrote in his complaint.

He also alleged that Dr Shanmugam began harassing her by throwing “pieces of chicken” outside her apartment despite knowing she is a vegetarian.

CCTV footage corroborates with the allegations of urinating outside the residence of the widow. However, the ABVP called the incident as a “malicious and derogatory propaganda” by the Congress’ student wing of NSUI.

"The video shared by NSUI with an allegation of harassment is tampered with and is being used with malafide intentions. The two families have discussed this within their housing society and have already concluded that the harassment allegations were caused due to misunderstandings and are untrue,” ABVP National General secretary Nidhi Tripathi said.

Vijayaraghavan also alleged in his two-page written complaint that the ABVP national president had urinated outside the woman’s apartment gate and had been throwing garbage and used masks at her gate.

In his complaint, Vijayaraghavan also said the family was “concerned about her safety” while asking police to take action against Dr Shanmugam, who he says, “has a bad track record in maintaining rapport with neighbours.”

Also Read: ABVP national president accused of harassing woman, urinating at her doorstep

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.